He was followed by Dr. Yusuf Dadoo, Chairperson of the South African Indian Congress and Chairperson of the underground South African Communist Party. On 20 March Nana Mahomo and Peter Molotsi has crossed the border into Bechuanaland to mobilize support for the PAC. "[6]:p.538, The uproar among South Africa's black population was immediate, and the following week saw demonstrations, protest marches, strikes, and riots around the country. The row of graves of the 69 people killed by police at the Sharpeville Police Station on 21 March 1960. International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, "Outside South Africa there were widespread reactions to Sharpeville in many countries which in many cases led to positive action against South Africa"., E.g., "[I]mmediately following the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, over 1000 students demonstrated in Sydney against the apartheid system"., United Nations Security Council Resolution 610, United Nations Security Council Resolution 615, "The Sharpeville Massacre A watershed in South Africa", "The photos that changed history Ian Berry; Sharpeville Massacre", "Sharpeville Massacre, The Origin of South Africa's Human Rights Day", "Influential religious leader with 70-years in ministry to be laid to rest", "The Sharpeville Massacre - A watershed in South Africa", "Macmillan, Verwoerd and the 1960 'Wind of Change' Speech", "Naming history's forgotten fighters: South Africa's government is setting out to forget some of the alliance who fought against apartheid. (2007), New History of South Africa. Sharpeville Massacre, The Origin of South Africa's Human Rights Day [online], available at: africanhistory.about.com [accessed 10 March 2009]|Thloloe, J. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The police were armed with firearms, including Sten submachine guns and LeeEnfield rifles. By lunchtime, the crowd outside the police station had grown to an estimated 20,000 people. Attending a protest in peaceful defiance of the apartheid regime, Selinah and many other young people were demonstrating against pass laws designed to restrict and control the movement and employment of millions of Black South Africans. Following the dismantling of apartheid, South African President Nelson Mandela chose Sharpeville as the site at which, on December 10, 1996, he signed into law the countrys new constitution. "The blood we sacrificed was worth it" - Sharpeville Massacre What happened on 21 March in Sharpeville? [10] Some insight into the mindset of those on the police force was provided by Lieutenant Colonel Pienaar, the commanding officer of the police reinforcements at Sharpeville, who said in his statement that "the native mentality does not allow them to gather for a peaceful demonstration. The subject of racial discrimination in South Africa was raised at the UN General Assembly in its first session, in 1946, in the form of a complaint by India concerning the treatment of Indians in the country. the Sharpeville Massacre The adoption of the Race Convention was quickly followed by the international covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights in 1966, introduced to give effect to the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Department of Home Affairs (a government bureau) was responsible for the classification of the citizenry. It also contributed the headline story at the Anti-Racism Live Global Digital Experience that marked March 21 internationally with acclaimed artists, actors and prominent speakers from South Africa including Thuli Madonsela, Zulaikha Patel and Zwai Bala. Significant reshaping of international law is often the result of momentous occurrences, most notably the two world wars. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. On March 21st, 1960, the Pan Africanists Congress, an anti-Apartheid splinter organization formed in 1959, organized a protest to the National Partys pass laws which required all citizens, as well as native Africans, to carry identification papers on them at all times. The apartheid system forcefully suppressed any resistance, such as at Sharpeville on March 21 1960, when 69 blacks were killed, and the Soweto Riots 1976-77, when 576 people died. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. [5], The official figure is that 69 people were killed, including 8 women and 10 children, and 180 injured, including 31 women and 19 children. Sharpeville Massacre - BlackPast.org [3], South African governments since the eighteenth century had enacted measures to restrict the flow of African South Africans into cities. Another officer interpreted this as an order and opened fire, triggering a lethal fusillade as 168 police constables followed his example. African Americans demonstrated their frustration with lack of progress on the issue through non-violent means and campaigns led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (Bourne, In a march against segregation and barriers for African-American voting rights, peaceful marchers were exposed to harsh treatment by the police, 50 being hospitalized by the terrorism inflicted on them (civilrights.org). On March 21, an estimated 7,000 South Africans gathered in front of the Sharpeville police station to protest against the restrictive pass laws. The Afrikaner poet Ingrid Jonker mentioned the Sharpeville Massacre in her verse. The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng ). Its been 60 years since the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 unarmed civilians were killed by armed South African police on March 21 1960. The policemen were apparently jittery after a recent event in Durban where nine policemen were shot. This march is seen by many as a turning point in South African history. We need the voices of young people to break through the silence that locks in discrimination and oppression. Sharpeville Massacre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays Accessible across all of today's devices: phones, tablets, and desktops. Baileys African History. It authorized the limited use of arms and sabotage against the government, which got the governments attentionand its anger! Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. Plaatjie, T. (1998) Focus: 'Sharpeville Heroes Neglected', The Sowetan, 20 March.|Reverend Ambrose Reeves (1966). During those five months roughly 25,000 people were arrested throughout the nation. Sharpeville was much more than a single tragic event. The Sharpeville massacre sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans, many of which were ruthlessly and violently crushed by the South African police and military. During this event 5,000 to 7,000 protesters went to the police station after a day of demonstrations, offering themselves for arrest for not carrying passbooks. Sixty-nine protesters died, and the massacre became an iconic moment in the struggle against apartheid. The ratification of these laws may have made the separate but equal rhetoric illegal for the U.S. but the citizens inside it still battled for their beliefs. [5] The police began shooting shortly thereafter. The Population Registration Act of 1950 enacted, requiring segregation of Europeans from Afrikaans . The events also prompted theInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminationwhich took effect on 4 January 1969. Massacre in Sharpeville. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in Cold War disputes. Some were shot in the back as they fled.[1]. As the number of UN members from Africa increased, the commission reversed its no power to act position and turned its attention to the human rights situation in South Africa. Amid confusion, two shots were fired into the air by somebody in the crowd. Our work on the Sustainable Development Goals. Significant reshaping of international law is often the result of momentous occurrences, most notably the first and second world wars. The Sharpeville Massacre, 1960 Police Attack Demonstrators in Sharpeville, March 21, 1960 Few events loom larger in the history of the apartheid regime than those of the afternoon of March 21, 1960, in Sharpeville, South Africa. Nelson Mandela was a member of the banned African National Congress and led an underground armed movement that opposed the apartheid by attacking government buildings in South Africa during the early 1960s. How the 1960 Sharpeville massacre sparked the birth of international This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. The PAC argued that if thousands of people were arrested, then the jails would be filled and the economy would come to a standstill. Despite the Sharpeville massacre feeling seismic in its brutality, "we all thought at that moment that it would cause a change in the political situation in South Africa," said Berry - "it was really ten years before anything changed." . The logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre, as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid South Africa. It is also a day to reflect on the progress that has been made in ensuring basic human rights for all South Africans, as enshrined in our Constitution. It is likely that the police were quick to fire as two months before the massacre, nine constables had been assaulted and killed, some disembowelled, during a raid at Cato Manor. The adoption of the convention was quickly followed by two international covenants on economic, social and cultural rights and on civil and political rights in 1966, introduced to give effect to the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This translates as shot or shoot. Both were tasked with mobilizing international financial and diplomatic support for sanctions against South Africa. Police arrested more than 11,000 people and kept them in jail. This angered the officers causing them to brutally attack and tear gas the demonstrators. In the aftermath of the events of 21 March, mass funerals were held for the victims. The same safe and trusted content for explorers of all ages. In the following days 77 Africans, many of whom were still in hospital, were arrested for questioning . The OHCHR Regional Office for Southern Africa also produced a series of digital stories on the Sharpeville massacre and young peoples concerns about their human rights. The Sharpeville massacre, the name given to the murder of 69 unarmed civilians by armed South African police, took place on 21 March 1960. The key developments were the adoption of Resolution 1235 in 1967, which allowed for the examination of complaints of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as exemplified by the policy of apartheid, and Resolution 1503 in 1970, which allowed the UN to examine complaints of a consistent pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance to the apartheid state. Furthermore, the history of the African civil rights movement validated: Nationalism has been tested in the peoples struggles . At least 180 were wounded. Copyright 2023 United Nations in South Africa, Caption: Selinah Mnguni, a Sharpeville massacre survivor, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. [10], PAC actively organized to increase turnout to the demonstration, distributing pamphlets and appearing in person to urge people not to go to work on the day of the protest. Sharpeville is a township near Vereeniging, in the Gauteng province of South Africa . Selinah Mnguniwas 23 years old and already three months pregnant when she was injured in the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960. But even still, southern activists worked to defend the practice of segregation. On March 21, 1960. 20072023 Blackpast.org. Sharpeville massacre | Summary, Significance, & Facts This day is now commemorated annually in South Africa as a public . 351 Francis Baard Street,Metro Park Building ,10th Floor BBC ON THIS DAY | 21 | 1960: Scores die in Sharpeville shoot-out - BBC News Pogrund,B. Sharpeville was first built in 1943 to replace Topville, a nearby township that suffered overcrowding where illnesses like pneumonia were widespread. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in cold war disputes. This article first appeared on The Conversation, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. The Sharpeville massacre sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans. Courtesy BaileySeippel Gallery/BAHA Source. In 1960, states had no binding international human rights obligations with oversight mechanisms. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. In 1960, states had no binding international human rights obligations and there were no oversight mechanisms. They also perpetuated the segregation within, The increase in the segregationist laws in the 1950s was met with resistance in the form of the Defiance Campaign that started in 1952. A few days later, on 30 March 1960, Kgosana led a PAC march of between 30 000-50 000 protestors from Langa and Nyanga to the police headquarters in Caledon Square. Riding into the small group of protestors, they forced most to withdraw, but a few stood fast around a utility pole where horsemen began to beat them. In particular, the African work force in the Cape went on strike for a period of two weeks and mass marches were staged in Durban. [13], A storm of international protest followed the Sharpeville shootings, including sympathetic demonstrations in many countries[14][15] and condemnation by the United Nations. Police officers attempted to use tear gas to repel these advances, but it proved ineffectual, and the police fell back on the use of their batons. The logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid South Africa. Another officer interpreted this as an order and opened fire, triggering a lethal fusillade as 168 police constables followed his example. Many people set out for work on bicycles or on foot, but some were intimidated by PAC members who threatened to burn their passes or "lay hands on them"if they went to work (Reverend Ambrose Reeves, 1966). The Apartheid was initiated as a ploy for Europeans to better control the exploited populations for economic gain, as maintaining tension between the different racial classifications diverted attention from the Europeans as it fed hatred between groups. The Sharpeville Massacre is commemorated through Human Rights Day, a public holiday in South Africa, which honours those whose lives were sacrificed in the fight for democracy. The impact of the events in Cape Town were felt in other neighbouring towns such as Paarl, Stellenbosch, Somerset West and Hermanus as anti-pass demonstrations spread. At 13h15 a small scuffle began near the entrance of the police station. Following shortly, the Group Areas Act of 1950 was enacted as a new form of legislation alongside the Population Registration Act. Sharpeville Massacre - South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. Many people need to know that indiviual have their own rights in laws and freedom . A robust humanrights framework is the only way to provide a remedy for those injustices, tackle inequality and underlying structural differences, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 30, the South African government declared a state of emergency which made any protest illegal. This set the UN on the path towards the recognition of all human rights for all and, eventually, the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the Universal Periodic Review of the human rights performance of all states. On 1 April 1960, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 134. The massacre was one of the catalysts for a shift from passive resistance to armed resistance by these organisations. About 69 Blacks were killed and more than 180 wounded, some 50 women and children being among the victims. The PAC called on its supporters to leave their passes at home on the appointed date and gather at police stations around the country, making themselves available for arrest. That day about 20,000 people gathered near the Sharpeville police station. Under the country's National Party government, African residents in urban districts were subject to influx control measures. NO FINE!" The significance of the date is reflected in the fact that. Sharpeville marked a turning point in South Africa's history; the country found itself increasingly isolated in the international community. Others were throwing rocks and shouting "Pigs off campus. The call for a stay away on 28 March was highly successful and was the first ever national strike in the countrys history. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements! One way of accomplishing this was by instilling laws thatd force segregation, classification, educational requirements, and economic purposes. According to the police, protesters began to stone them and, without any warning, one of the policemen on the top of an armoured car panicked and opened fire. Stephen Wheatley explores how this tragedy paved the way for the modern United Nations, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. "The aeroplanes were flying high and low. Stephen Wheatley explores how this tragedypaved the way for themodern United Nations, Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Jennifer Davis: Exiled hero of South Africas anti-apartheid movement, Ralph Ziman: I hated apartheid. After apartheid ended, President Nelson Mandela chose Sharpeville as the place to sign South Africas new constitution on December 10, 1996. Throughout the 1950s, South African blacks intensified their resistance against the oppressive apartheid system. When an estimated group of 5000 marchers reached Sharpeville police station, the police opened fire killing 69 people and injuring 180 others in what became known as the Sharpeville Massacre. As they attempted to disperse the crowd, a police officer was knocked down and many in the crowd began to move forward to see what had happened. The presence of armoured vehicles and air force fighter jets overhead also pointed to unnecessary provocation, especially as the crowd was unarmed and determined to stage a non-violent protest. The protesters responded by hurling stones (striking three policemen) and rushing the police barricades. In order to reduce the possibility of violence, he wrote a letter to the Sharpeville police commissioner announcing the upcoming protest and emphasizing that its participants would be non-violent. p. 334- 336|Historical Papers Archive of the University of the Witwatersrand [online] Accessed at: wits.ac.za and SAHA archive [link no longer available]. Eyewitness accounts of the Sharpeville massacre 1960 The day of the Massacre, mourning the dead and getting over the shock of the event Baileys African History Archive (BAHA) Tom Petrus, author of 'My Life Struggle', Ravan Press. According to his "Testimony about the Launch of the Campaign," Sobukwe declared: To read more witness accounts of the Sharpeville Massacre, click on the, According to an account from Humphrey Tyler, the assistant editor at, Afrikaner Nationalism, Anglo American and Iscor: formation of Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation, 1960-70 in Business History", The Sharpeville Massacre: Its historic significance in the struggle against apartheid, The PAC's War against the State 1960-1963, in The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1960-1970, The Sharpeville Massacre - A watershed in SouthAfrica, Saluting Sharpevilles heroes, and South Africa's human rights, New Books | Robert Sobukwes letters from prison, South African major mass killings timeline 1900-2012, Origins: Formation, Sharpeville and banning, 1959-1960, 1960-1966: The genesis of the armed struggle, Womens resistance in the 1960s - Sharpeville and its aftermath, Eyewitness accounts of the Sharpeville massacre 1960, List of victims of police action, 21 March, 1960 (Sharpeville and Langa), A tragic turning-point: remembering Sharpeville fifty years on by Paul Maylam, Apartheid: Sharpeville Massacre, 21 March 1960, Commission of Enquiry into the Occurrences at Sharpeville (and other places) on the 21st March, 1960, Volume 1, Johannesburg, 15 June 1960, Commission of Enquiry into the Occurrences at Sharpeville (and other places) on the 21st March, 1960, Volume 2, Johannesburg, 15 June 1960, Documents, and articles relating to the Sharpeville Massacre 1960, Editorial comment: The legacy of Sharpeville, From Our Vault: Sharpeville, A Crime That Still Echoes by J Brooks Spector, 21 March 2013, South Africa, Message to the PAC on Sharpeville Day by Livingstone Mqotsi, Notes on the origins of the movement for Sanctions against South Africa by E.S. Youth standing up against racism was the 2021 theme, aimed at fostering a global culture of tolerance, equality and non-discrimination that calls on each one of us to stand up against racial prejudice and intolerant attitudes. Baileys African History Archive (BAHA)Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. Matthews called on all South Africans to mark a national day of mourning for the victims on the 28 March. It had wide ramifications and a significant impact. The South African government then created the Unlawful Organizations Act of 1960 which banned anti-apartheid groups such as the Pan Africanist Congress and the African National Congress. One of the insights was that international law does not change, unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour. 1960 police killing of protesters in Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa. The event has been seen by some as a turning point in South African history. The world should remember the contingency and fragility of the international human rights law system that we so easily take for granted today. This assisted in minimizing unity between the exploited to rally against European control as it backhandedly induced submission for survival. The moral outrage surrounding these events led the United Nations General Assembly to pronounce 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which recognized racism as a gross human rights violation. Following the Sharpeville massacre, as it came to be known, the death toll rose to 69 and the number of injuries to 180. Lancaster University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. Just after 1pm, there was an altercation between the police officer in charge and the leaders of the demonstration. The story of March 21 1960 is told by Tom Lodge, a scholar of South African politics, in his book Sharpeville. Along with other PAC leaders he was charged with incitement, but while on bail he left the country and went into exile. Please note: Text within images is not translated, some features may not work properly after translation, and the translation may not accurately convey the intended meaning.
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